Special Education Today Newsletter 2(49)
Is there anything to say?
Editor’s Note: The issue number for this issue has been updated 29 May 2023—JohnL
Yep, this is 49th issue of the second year of Special Education Today’s newsletter. It’s not too long until SET hits 100 issues. Welcome to latest (if not the greatest).
The publication date for this issue falls on the day after the US celebrates Mothers’ Day. As you might guess, I’m writing it on Mothers’ Day.
Despite that unique circumstance, readers will find familiar content. This issue has familiar house-keeping notes, a listing of recent contents, and commentary about (no surprise) mothers.
Subscribers
The list of subscribers both shrank and expanded over the past week. Although there are many free recipients of the newsletter (and selected posts), about 40 are helping support SET with paid subscriptions. The paying subscribers include the most recognizable names in US special education. I hope readers of SET will join them in supporting this resource.
Interactions
I want to thank all y’all who posted “likes” this past week (and in the past). I want to single out Jane B. and Joel M. for their comments on posts.
Jane B., whom I’ve known (and admired) for, what, 20-some years, took a good swipe at making last week’s commentary fit with special education practice. Woohoo!
Joel M. (whom I’ve know since rocks were forming), sagely observed that he feared policy initiatives for improving reading instruction in his home town (New York City) would be unlikely to succeed, even though he wished they would.
The week’s table of contents
Starting with the previous newsletter (2.44), here are the posts from the past week:
Special Education Today Newsletter 2(44)—What in the world will he prattle on about this week?
More "Sold a Story" seems to be coming—What will American Public Media's Emily Hanford reveal?
New York City central administration will change reading instruction—Will the move go in a beneficial direction?
A kid with CP is part of efforts to promote accessible playgrounds—What can we learn from Flynn Hall?
Emily Oster on food and hyperactivity—Is children's hyperactivity influenced by ingesting food dyes?
Another installment in "Sold a Story"—What does Ms. Hanford say in this one?
Quick checks: What was happening recently—New leadership at US ED; R. Crossley; costs of mental health care; and teacher appreciation week
Commentary
As I write this issue, it’s Mothers’ Day. I spent a lot of time honoring mothers in my life—not just my own birth mother, but also her mothers going back four generations. I put flowers on their graves and here’s one illustration.
That is my mother’s grave stone, I have the great privilege to be able to visit the graves of my mother’s mothers’ mothers’ mothers (and other kin). I know pretty damn precisely where their remains are interred. I know that this is a great privilege…a privilege that many among us—especially those among us whose ancestors were enslaved—cannot experience.
As did my mother in law, Margaret Marques Salazar, Bobbie Lloyd had wonderful influences on my life. I take off my hat and hug Bobbie with thanks whenever I think about how much I benefitted from knowing her—let alone getting 50% of my genetic material from her. For those reader with long memories, this should remind us of my continuing efforts to honor people enslaved at a property that came into my family in the mid 1800s.
But, here’s the thing: Each of us has a mother, and we should honor them. Even though some mothers may have had “issues” while raising their children, mothers have not deserved the sort of bashing delivered by psychoanalytically oriented theorists (e.g., Bruno Bettleheim who fraudulently attributed children’s autism to “refrigerator mothers”) and sociologists (e.g, xxx). Indeed, as Patterson and MacCoby (1980) explained, mothers are the unacknowledged victims: Mothers generally manage the family, but in distressed families (i.e., those families where there is a child with a disability) mothers take on added responsibilities.
In normal families the fathers function as social facilitators and resident "guest." Mothers serve as caretakers; and both parents share in child management problems. In distressed families the same roles occur; however, the mother's role is expanded to include that of crisis manager.
That’s a pretty freaking heavy lift. SET readers can find first-hand accounts of the substantial requirements that mothers experience by reading ParentData, The Great Leap, The Educated Parent, Another Normal, and other mothers' stacks (order does not indicate assessment or evaluation; just read them all).
In addition to learning about mothers’ perspectives, I encourage special educators to be considerate of mothers (and parent is general). I remember that I, at about age 21, had the timerity to stand in a classroom door and lecture parents. That was only one of the dumb things I did as a special educator. Sorry.
We special educators (including speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, orientation and mobility specialists…even school psychologists) need to understand that when we are dealing with “Moms,” we are negotiating with equals. We should collaborate.
Happy Mothers Day!
Oh, and remember to take smart safety precautions (e.g., seatbelts…also for dogs in your vehicle) and caring for neighbors (meaning “give a damn about others”). And, of course, teach your children well.
Source
Patterson, G. R., & MacCoby, E. E. (1980). Mothers: The unacknowledged victims. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 45(5), 1-64. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1165841.pdf